"You don't an...?" Guy exclaid in disbelief. He hoped, deep inside, that everything was a lie. For Grace to have suffered through sothing so malicious, sothing so disgusting, sothing so absolutely inhumane... Guy just couldn't digest it. For that matter, even the food he'd consud was attempting to redouble out of his oesophagus.
"The day I nstruated for the first ti, my Mas- that man... took . He forced himself on ," Grace revealed with a low whimper. She paused to collect herself and continued to speak. However, Guy could feel the heavy emotions gushing through her words and her deep-seated fear and anger.
"I had no idea what was going on. I was too young and I didn't know what it ant. I just let him do it, I bit my lips and forged through the pain. 'Maybe it was part of Master's plan?' I would lie to myself," Grace said. "But I knew, deep down, that it was wrong."
"He... did that to many tis, every ti I nstruated. After the first ti, he would lock in the hut. He stopped teaching how to cultivate as well. It went on like this for a year, until one day my nstruation was delayed."
"I didn't know what to do. I didn't have anyone to depend on, so I told that man. When he heard it, he was extrely elated."
"After that incident, a change took place. My treatnt took another turn, this ti for the better. He would feed delicious food, and varieties of elixirs, I also received physical therapy regularly. As an impressionable child, my growing apprehension lessened as I believed that my Master was back to normal. I thought that maybe he was angry with for sothing I did before, and now he had forgiven . Yet, I overlooked the fact that he still kept locked up in this prison."
"Then ti progressed, and I started to notice my cultivation dropping at a frantic pace. It was slow at first, but with each month it started to decrease exponentially, until the fifth month when I had returned to my mortal state, but much worse. I couldn't feel the mana at all, I couldn't even cast basic cantrips."
"Once again, I told the man about this. And that was the last ti I saw his face," Grace concluded.
"When I next I woke up, I found that I was alone in that house. I was weak, on the brink of death. My stomach was scarred with a brutal burn. My insides were on fire. And worse yet, I could feel that I had lost sothing. There was an emptiness inside ."
Grace stopped talking and rolled over to her side.
"I remained in the house alone for a week. My mind was blank. I was lost. A part of was angry with myself for disappointing my Master which resulted in this punishnt. 'Why did he leave ? What did I do wrong?' I started to hate myself. It got to a point when I contemplated ending everything. But then I rembered my parents."
"With great difficulty, I managed to recuperate. Thanks to the knowledge that man left with , and the still intact herb garden, I managed to brew a few healing concoctions and regained so of my strength. But mana manipulation was still beyond my reach. No matter! I just had to return ho, to my parents."
"I travelled for days, fighting through the pain from the hasty healing that man did to . I guess once I had fulfilled my use, my fate didn't matter to him. Though, I am thankful that he at least put back together in one piece after slicing up. If he hadn't done that, I would not be here."
"By the ti I returned to my village, I found that it no longer existed."
Grace chuckled ominously and said, "What happened, was that a few years after my departure, a mage garbed in black arrived at the village and burnt it to the ground, including everyone present there at that ti."
"It couldn't be!" Guy denied it in shock.
"The assumption is valid," Grace responded. "He couldn't leave any loose ends. He was sure that I wouldn't survive his operation. But what of the people from my past? If people started asking questions, they could trace it back to him, right?"
"I lost everything. My past, my present, and my future. At this point, I was nothing but a ghost. I might as well be dead," Grace cried.
"I wanted to end it all," Grace revealed. "Finish what that man did to ."
"But then, I t Markus. He was a little kid, alone. Almost my age when I was taken. Being with him, this emptiness that remained within started to fill up - I could feel it. Maybe it was the lingering motherly instinct that was growing inside that found so satisfaction and wholeness when taking care of the kid..."
"It was just us two for a while. But as he grew older and older, the anger, hatred and disgust started to resurface within . I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat without throwing it all up, I couldn't even get up due to the lethargy."
"It was then that I stumbled upon Dora and Kano. Those two were even younger than Markus when I found him. Still toddlers, barely able to crawl. After I took them in, the pain within receded again. A few months later, Marie joined us and we finally settled down here in this building. The villagers had abandoned this place for many years. The woods were dense here, and prone to beast attacks."
"But we had nothing to lose. We moved in, cleaned and cleared the area," Grace explained.
"Now this is all I have, Guy. The children and this place. This was all that kept going. It was all that I needed. But, that was until you ca," Grace said while sobbing loudly.
"I disliked you when you arrived," Grace confessed. "You reminded of my unpleasant past. You reminded of him."
At that instant, pieces started to click in Guy's mind. Her murderous reaction when she saw Guy naked with Markus started to make sense to him now. It must have opened up all of her past wounds when she thought that Guy was about to do to Markus what the beast had done to her.
"You're thinking about that ti, aren't you?" Grace asked. She could read Guy's facial expressions and deduced them accurately.
"You were different," Grace redirected. "I'd t a lot of mages through my life. Each was equally as bad as the other - they were all the sa. Selfish, arrogant, quick to anger, and just as quick to jump to conclusions. But you were the exact opposite. I thought it was a result of a naive mind, but after getting to know you, I realised that it was a result of a mind mature beyond its years."
"You flatter ."
"It's the truth! I was apprehensive about sending Markus to the Academy because I feared he would beco like them - cold, uncaring and self-absorbed. You wouldn't believe just how relieved I was when he ca back - although I didn't show it. But then he brought you along... I prepared myself for the worst but was pleasantly surprised. I observed as you taught Markus and the other kids, and how you emphasised the use of rationality and morality - being aware of how our actions affect the world and those around us."
Grace sat up on her mattress and gazed directly into Guy's eyes. Her face wore a firm and unbending expression, and she grasped Guy's hand tightly.
"I will let you establish your Sect here only under one condition: You mustn't let the kids joining go astray. Keep them grounded, just like you did with Markus, Jean and Marie. Turn them into exemplary mages."
"Does that even need to be said?" Guy retorted incredulously. "I won't let them go astray. Not in good conscience."
Grace shook her head and repeated, "You don't understand. Magic corrupts. As you grow with your cultivation your personality warps with you. After a point, you are forced to sacrifice the only shred of humanity that tethers you to your mortal self and you turn into an abstract concept given physical form. And once you lose that human identity, you stop treating others as humans as well."
"The way you're raising Markus and the others, I can get behind. In fact, I would have interrupted the mont you started leading them astray, but till now you haven't. However, with a growing body of students, your attention will inevitably beco diluted. So, I need you to promise ! Promise that you won't let ANY child learning under you go astray. Promise , and I will let you use the orphanage and the surrounding areas to set up your Sect."
Guy gazed back into Grace's eyes and prepared to pledge. "I promise that no mber of my Sect will ever, in any way, turn to harm innocents. I will make sure that they beco whole individuals with a proper sense of morality."
The duo remained in silence as the vow lingered in the air. It may not be much, it wasn't like it was so sort of soul contract, but the words had weight. At least to Grace, it was enough. She trusted Guy. Why? Grace didn't know the answer to that question.
It might be because he never forced anything on her. He respected her - respected her boundaries, her choices, and her opinions. He treated her as his equal. That was not sothing you'd find so easily in this world.
Another reason might be because, in an obscure way, Grace also reciprocated the affection Guy kept sending her way. If soone were to hear the words 'I Love You' multiple tis from the sa person with sincerity, unless the recipient was without emotions, they too would beco swayed and develop so feelings for that person.
Proximity breeds familiarity. And Grace was growing intimately familiar with Guy.
After a silent few minutes, Grace snapped out of her focused state and realised that she and Guy were extrely close to each other, AND she was holding on to the man's hands. If anyone were to enter her room at this mont, misunderstandings would surely arise.
She imdiately dropped her hands and coughed to cover up her embarrassnt.
"I- I should sleep now," she muttered and urged Guy to do the sa... in his own room.
"Before I go," Guy said as he passed her door fra. "If it isn't too unpleasant, what was the na of that man who did this to you? Can you describe him?"
"Huh?" Grace choked at the sudden change in ambience. "I am not sure. He called himself Yarrick, though he just told to call him Master. And as for his appearance... the mories are sort of blurry. I've been trying my hardest to forget..."
Guy furrowed his brows as he digested this information and then revealed a slight smile back at Grace, "It's fine. Good night."
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